Give Me Linux or Give Me Death! (New to linux?)

[twistedcranium]

Hello everyone....

Great set of forums here! I thought I'd say hello and let you all know that Linux is a big passion of mine and am 95% of the way to eliminating my need for windows anymore. So, I'm going to jump right in here at the CTH support forums and help out where I can.

[UPDATE: this thread gathered soooo much useful information that it should be something that linux newbies will benefit greatly from reading.....so let's make this thread the place where we leave important install and starting out in linux information}

[PostCode]

Thanks for jumping onboard bud. It's nice to see ya. :D

[R4NG3R]

Yeah we need more Linux users around here, i wish i was one of them, but i'm just too scared to have dual OS's on one computer. Just wait till i get a new one or free one up....i'll get RedHat 9. and i'll be set. I really want to try out linux but i have no current opportunity, but those doors may open sooner than i think. Good Luck! and Thanks

[ceh383]

R4NG3R,

No need to wish......just gather up some old parts slap them together and jump on in......:blink:

[R4NG3R]

wish it was that easy my friend...all of my current parts are not...how do i put this...up to date i suppose? they are old and wouldnt run redhat. bah...this sucks...but i suppse i could use my Compaq Proliant ML350 Server to run linux...even though its a nice machine i'd hate ruin it. but oh well will see what happens

[ceh383]

There are a lot of distro's that will run well on 486's you won't be able to do a lot with it, but you will be able to get your feet wet. I've got Slackware 9 running on an AMD K6-2 450, it's a little slow but it works......it's what I'm using now.....:D

[smurfy]

Ditto here -
Lycoris LX & RedHat 7.1

Nothing faster than AMD K6-2 @ 550Mhz
Running on Celeron 500 now.
Have run RedHat 7.1 on as low as P166MMX.

I think I've mentioned this before - Just find a hard drive. Swap and change. Take out your Windows drive, replace it with teh Spare. Install RH9.
When you want Windows back, swap the drives back over.
You can even get removable hard drive bays that fit into a bay on your tower that you can use to swap without even removing the case.

[PostCode]

RedHat 9, if installed after a Windows OS will see and setup the OS in GRUB properly. ANY Windows OS, including 2K and XP. You won't have to adjust anything. No bootdisks to modify the MBR or anything. Just install Windows first on a partition and then install Linux on another partition and use GRUB, which is the default, as the boot loader. On the first reboot after installing Linux you'll see the option to boot to Windows.

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by PostCode
RedHat 9, if installed after a Windows OS will see and setup the OS in GRUB properly. ANY Windows OS, including 2K and XP. You won't have to adjust anything. No bootdisks to modify the MBR or anything. Just install Windows first on a partition and then install Linux on another partition and use GRUB, which is the default, as the boot loader. On the first reboot after installing Linux you'll see the option to boot to Windows.

I have had the same successes with this as PostCode. Grub is great at 'automagically' detecting OS's.

[R4NG3R]

so i could like have one hard drive with linux on it...and another hard drive with windows on it...and just switch them out? would i have to do anything besides partition the new one? so all i do is make one with linux and keep my windows one, and when i wanna use linux just plug in the linux one?

[PostCode]

Exactly. Doing it this way needs to done with care. First, the hard drive needs to handled with care. Sudden jars to it can reder it unusable. Second, the ribbon cables can wear out with constant plugging in and unplugging. If you decide to do it this way, you may want to invest in a few extra cables. Another option is to attach the drive that you want to install Linux on as the primay slave device, leaving Windows as the primary master, and install Linux here. If you install RedHat 8 or 9, both of these versions will see the Windows parition and setup Grub to add this partition in the boot loader. This is the safest way.

[ceh383]

My personal preferance, removeable hard drive trays.
Like THIS (http://peripherals.about.com/library/weekly/aa033101a.htm)

Depending on quality, I've seen them range from $15 - $45. These make it easy......

[R4NG3R]

no i was thinking something like, having one with windows and one with linux and rotate them in and out, having one on at a time. that work?

[PostCode]

Yes. If you physically swap the hard drives out, then it's easy enough to do. The best way to do it would be by using the method that ceh383 advises.

[R4NG3R]

oh ok, but linux is EXPENSIVE!!!! like 150 and a 13 year old kid can't afford that kinda cha ching

well, redhat 9 is 150

[ceh383]

Linux can be downloaded for free. Check out redhat.com, debian.org, slackware.com.....and so on

[R4NG3R]

.::GASP::.

WHERE!!!!!!!!?????????
but alls i gots ta do now is get me an extra hard drive....but they get cheaper every week!!! i saw a 120gig hard drive for only 60 bucks...of course you have to deal with all the rebates and stuff...

which ones free? all of em?

there are soo many though!!! which on do i download!! and where do i put it? on a disk? 700MB disk?

[PostCode]

You need to download the .iso images and burn them to CD. The following link has .iso images for all kinds of Linux Distributions. If you choose RedHat then make sure you click on the Red Hat Linux and not the Red Hat Linux +sgi XFS. These are two different types of file sytems. Use the top right one, Red Hat Linux. The next page will list the .iso images for the versions 9, 8, 7.3, 7.2 and 6.2 for the Sparc (which I'm burning right now...got two SparcSation IPX lunch boxes here :D ). Download all the .iso images for disks 1, 2, and 3. You will need them all for the installation of Red Hat. They're big so it'll take a long time.

LinuxISO.org (http://www.linuxiso.org/)

[R4NG3R]

hmm...okay, i'll give it a try

[twistedcranium]

Here is a primer for ya to read up on....

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/os.html

One thing about linux, you'll be doing a bit more reading about things. Not that other linuxers don't want to help, but a lot of the stuff is already written down somewhere. The tldp.org website is full of HOWTO's and Mini-Manuals!

[R4NG3R]

i finally got all 3 disks, can i get one on one instructions on how to partition it and install linux?

[smurfy]

Yep.

(GRRRR - 4 hours to d/load 3 ISOs - that would take me and my dial-up 4 days solid!)

What did you get - RedHat 9?

[R4NG3R]

Yeah, and it only took me 4 hours because i had to download disk 2 twice... i hit the cancle button an 99%. i was sooo mad. and yeah i have RedHat 9. I just need my hard drive and some lessons on making partitions.

[twistedcranium]

Definitely hit the link for the HOWTO's that I posted above....and be sure and visit....

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/

Note: Even if you don't read the HOWTO's I would STRONGLY recommend that you read the Red Hat link on installing !!! :)

[PostCode]

Red Hat Install

The following instructions are assuming that you have a version of Windows on it's own partition and/or hard drive. Boot the computer with Red Hat 9 disk #1 installed in the CD-ROM drive. You will see a screen with a Red Hat 9 logo along the top with some instructions below it and a prompt that says

boot:

Press enter at this point. The kernel image will load from the CD into memory and you will see various things running past the screen. This is the hardware being initialized and the kernel preparing the system for use. The next screen you will see a CD FOund dialog box. It's asking you if you want to test the media. You can skip this portion. Press the Tab key to highlight the Skip and press enter.

The installation is now going to run anaconda and prepare to run the installation througha graphical interface. Soon you'll see the start of that. It's during this portion it's detecting your video card and the type of monitor you have. Soon you'll see the Red Hat logo full screen and then the installation program will start.

The first screen to the GUI install is the Welcome screen. You can click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Language Selection: Engligh (English) is the default. Choose the language you want to install Red Hat 9 using then click the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Keyboard: U.S. English is the default. Choose the language you are using for the install then click the next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Mouse Configuration: Choose the type of mouse you have attached to the computer. In most cases the standard is a Generic 3 Button Mouse (PS/2). If have a brand name mouse, like Microsoft or Logitech you can use of the mice drivers supplied by Red Hat. Simply click ont he small arrow next to the company name then select the type of mouse that you have. Once your done, click the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Installation Type: It's going to search for any prior installations of Linux on the system now. If it finds any it will prompt you with the option to upgrade it or install a new installation. Since this is a first install for you, the next screen you'll see has four options.


Personal Desktop
Workstation
Server
Custom


Select the custom option and them click on the next button in the lower right corener of the screen.

Disk Partitioning Setup: Here, you have two options. Automatically partition or Manually partition with Disk Druid. Select the option to use Disk Druid and then click on the Next button in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

Partitioning: Here you will two things. In the top portion is a bar showing you used and free space on the hard drive. The lower is a tree structure showing information on the partitions and free space. You should see a partition in the lower portion called:

/dev/hda1

This is your Windows installation. During this portion of the install DO NOT click on the line. Below that you will see Free. Click on that line, then click on the New button in the middle area of the screen. A box will come up that you create the partition in. In the top line labeled Mount Point, type the following in:

/boot

The next line down is the File System Type. Leave this as the default, ext3. Two lines down you will see the size line. It's set to 100MB. Leave this as well. This is about the size you want for the boot parition. It's set as a fixed size by default as well so simply click on the Ok button in the lower right corner of this box and you be back to the Partitioning screen. Now you'll see the new partition, /dev/hda2, with the mount point of /boot. Click on the Free space line below that if it is not highlighted and click the New button again in the middle area of the screen.

In the Mount Point line type nothing. Pull down the File SYstem Type menu below that and select swap by clicking on it. In the size line you need to put the value eihter equal to the amount of RAM you have installed in the system or the amount of RAM + 12 in this line. It's set as a fixed size by default. Once you enter the value, click on the Ok button in the lower right corner of the box.

Click on the Free line in the lower portion again and the NEw button int he middle again. In the Mount Point line put a single forward slash:

/

In the File SYstem Type, leave it as ext3. Don't worry about the amount showing in the Size line. Click on the radio button "Fill to maximum allowable size", then click the Ok button in the lower right corner of the box.

Now, all the space remaining on the hard drive has been allocated. You are ready to proceed to the next section of the Install. Click ont he Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Boot Loader Configuration: This is the portion of the install that needs some extra care. Near the very top you will see:

The GRUB boot loader will be installed on /dev/hda

and a button next to it. Leave this alone. Do not change it. If you choose a boot loader other than GRUB, like lilo, then you will have to manually repair the MBR to get Windows back after the install.

Int he middle area you have the option to choose which OS, either DOS (really Windows...don't worry) or Red Hat Linux as the default operating system, menaing that this will be the operating system that will be loaded if no other operating system is selected at bootup.

You can click on the DOS line in the middle area then the Edit button off to the side to change the name of the OS that will appear in the boot loader. Other than that this changes nothing so don't worry. Mine are labeled "Winblows" and "A Real OS". Something to have fun with.

Once you finish click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Network Configuration: Unless you want to set the system up on an internanl network or Domain then you can leave this area like it is and use DHCP. Click the next burron in the lower right corner of the screen when your done.

Firwall Configuration: If you are on a network, like a home router/firwall, then you can choose the "No firewall" option. You can use the firewall setting of High if you are going to using the system for something like DNS or serving web pages. The default is Medium, which will be fine in most cases. Once this is done, click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen

Additional Language Support: Unless you need to set the system up for a particular region of the world, then the default here is fine. If you do, then scroll through the list and select any packages you think are needed. Once your done, click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen

Time Zone Selection: You can click on the map to the time zone that best relates to your physical location. The time will set itself in the lower portion of this screen. If this is your time zone then you can continue on. You can also scroll the lower portion up and down to select the correct time.

Set Root Password: Type in the desired passowrd that you want for the root account. This is not your user account. THis is the administrator account. Whatever you type in, remember it. Resetting the admin password is not like it is in Windows. It's a bit more complex. After Red Hat has been installed and the ystem has rebooted you will setup a user account then. Once you finich, click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

[Authentication Configuration[/i]: Leave everything as it is and click ont he Next button in the lower right corner of the screen. A message "Reading package information..." may appear and take a while. Just be patient.

Package Group Selection: I don't have the time to explain in detail what to select and what not to select in this area. It would take me a month to write it. Pick the following:

Desktops -
X Windows SYstem
GNOME Desktop Enviorment

Applications -
Editors
Graphical Internet
Text-based Internet
Office/Productivity
Sound and Video
Graphics
Games and Entertainment

Servers
Server Configuration Tools
Windows File Server

Development
Development Tools

System
Administration Tools
System Tools
Printing Support


At the bottom you will see the option to select individual packages. You can do this and then scroll through each area and pick and choose what you want. Also, you will the option at the bottom to install Everything. You can do this if you want, but it needs about 5GB of space to do that. If you have plenty of space then this isn't an issue. Once your done choosing what to install, then click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

You may be presented with a screen that will tell you the following packages need to be installed to satisfy dependencies with packages that are being installed. In other words, in order for A application to work, it needs B library. Just click on next and it'll install them as well.

About to Install
Click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen to install Red Hat on your computer. It will prompt you when it needs the other disks so stick around.

To be continued

If thee's any typos or grammical errors in here, tough. This thing is to long to read over again. :D

[ceh383]

During the install of RH9 you will be given the choice of Automatically partitioning your drive or manually partition it with Disk Druid. Choosing to partition automatically will work in most cases, but I would recommend reading about partitions and mount points. Manual partitioning is pretty easy, the most important thing is figureing out what partitions you need.

The Redhat site is a great place to gain information

Linux Partition HOWTO (http://www.europe.redhat.com/documentation/mini-HOWTO/Partition/index.php3)

[PostCode]

continued...

Boot Diskette Creation: You have the option here to create a boot disk. It is highly recommended that you create one. Just slip a floppy disk in the drive and it'll create one for you. If anything should happen and you can get the system to boot properly this will come in handy. After your done creating the disk, click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen.

Graphical Interface (X) Configuration[/b}: Red Hat should detect your card and specify what you have in this list. If it doesn't know what you have, you can try to use generic drivers for it, like NVidia for NVidia based video cards. Find the card closest to what you actually have installed in the system if your card is not listed, then click the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen. Don't check the "Skip X configuration".

[b]Monitor Configuration: This is probably the most difficult to figure out. If your monitor is not detected then your going to have to find out what the horizonal and vertical sync rates are and enter those manually in the two boxes in the lower left under the main selection area. This step is actually rather importtant. You could severly damage your monitor if this is not set properly. Read any documentation about your current monitor that you have. It should list the sync rates for it. Once you find those values you can enter then in the boxes indicated earlier. Make sure you enter the values shown and confirm what you have entered before moving on. Click on the Next button in the lower right corner of the screen once your done in here.

Customize Graphical Configuration: At this point you can test various settings. Use this feature until you are satisfied with the results. You can use the Back button int he lower right corner if you want to change the values for the monitor. Near the bottom middle is the option to boot to a Graphical or Text login. By default Graphical is choosen. Unless you want to login with text based command line, I suggest using the Graphical login. Test the resolution at various Color Depths and Screen Resolutions. Find one that works and you are happy with then click on the Next button at the bottom of the screen.

Now, the CD-ROM will eject the CD at this point. Click on the Exit button and the system will reboot. It goes back toa text based screen for this.

During the booting, you shou7ld now have boot loader come up. In it will be the Linux and DOS (unless you named it something else) selections. Use the arrow keys to select the operating system you wish to boot into. If you don't do anything, the top os, by default Red Hat, will begin loading in ten seconds.

That should be about it.

Hope thsi helps.

[R4NG3R]

wow thanks postcode, i'll be sure to use that, thanks! all i need now is a hard disk... :(

[smurfy]

I have pinned this thanks to postCode's excellent walk-through of a Red Hat install.

Couple of notes:
That walk-through is almost identical to a RedHat 7.1 install so should be usable from at least 7 - 9 versions (only difference is 7.1 uses LILO, not GRUB).

R4NG3R, since you will be installing on a clean system disk with the Windows disk removed, you don't need to worry about configuring the boot loader for DOS/Windows.

Monitor Config - If you have absolutely no idea about this, download AIDA16 and put it on a floppy. Boot with a Win98 bootdisk then swap and run AIDA from the other floppy and it will tell you the sync rates.

[R4NG3R]

ummm could you explain more throughly please?

[PostCode]

Explain what?

[smurfy]

R4NG3R, since you will be installing on a clean system disk with the Windows disk removed, you don't need to worry about configuring the boot loader for DOS/Windows.
Post Code's walk through mentioned quite a bit concerning installing Linux on a system that already has Windows on it. I think you have decided to use a seperate disk and remove the Windows disk to avoid any risk of messing up Windows.
In this case, the "Partitioning" section of the walk-through could be summed up as "use AUTOMATIC PARTITIONING option".
The Boot loader section will be almost non applicable as you will only have one operating system on the machine at a time.



Monitor Config - If you have absolutely no idea about this, download AIDA16 and put it on a floppy. Boot with a Win98 bootdisk then swap and run AIDA from the other floppy and it will tell you the sync rates.
As Post Code mentions, if your monitor is not automatically detected by the Linux Installer, you need to manually enter certain specifications that if you get wrong could cause serious damage to the monitor.
Therefore, if it is not detected and you don't know those details (they will be available in any manuals you have for the monitor) you can use the AIDA16 system info tool http://www.aida32.hu/aida-download.php?bit=16 to tell you everything about it so you can be sure you get it right.

[twistedcranium]

New to linux? Not new but never tried Red Hat before?

Here are a few pre-flight manuals to read:

Dual boot system
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/ch-x86-dualboot.html

Intro to disk partitions
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/ch-partitions.html

Installation Guide
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/

Release notes
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/release-notes/x86/


*note- these links are for the Red Hat 9 release (mileage may vary)

**double note- since one of my tasks in current professional position is to update a 'release notes' sheet that gets sent out with our company's software...knowing what types of information make it onto release notes, I strongly urge everyone to read those things!

[twistedcranium]

*bumping this thread with a new post*

Since this thread seems to have a bunch of information in it that a linux newbie would want....let's keep it filled with such info, pointers, and general getting started with linux info.

[Dodge]

Alot of great information here guys. Thanks. Will be doing alot of reading now.

[Swedeman]

Aloha to all,

Just wanted to explain how I have my hard drives setup (2). I have both of them set as master, IDE ribbon connected to both, but move my one power plug to the hard drive I'm using at the time. One hard drive is Win ME, the other Mandrake9.1, easy enough to move the power plug, plus not wear out my IDE ribbon. Must say thu, I love Mandrake 9.1, trying to learn all I can and get away from windows all together.

[twistedcranium]

Welcome Swedeman!

Moving the power plug is definitely one way to do it. Although I would like mention (for the benefit of others that may be new to linux and dualbooting) that if you ever have files on one drive that you need while using the other drive's OS, you are kind of stuck with this method of switching.

For home use I would say that I work in Linux about 90% of the time. I still have one piece of hardware that just doesn't support well in linux (a Canon scanner) and a graphics program (Paint Shop Pro) that I have grown so used to using that switching to the linux programs would just slow me down when it comes to graphics. So there are plenty of times where I will boot into one OS and realize midway through the boot process that a file I need is on the other hard-drive.

Linux lets one mount a FAT32 partition and there is an app, ext2fs, that lets one view linux files from Windows.

[ffd430]

oh ok, but linux is EXPENSIVE!!!! like 150 and a 13 year old kid can't afford that kinda cha ching

well, redhat 9 is 150
if you want the suport and all the paperwork, I dont know what else the $150 gets you I think some extra disks.... other than that its free to download if you have broadband just go to www.redhat.com they have links to download the latest distrobution for free. Its I think 3 or 6 cdroms worth of ISO images.

[ffd430]

wow thanks postcode, i'll be sure to use that, thanks! all i need now is a hard disk... :(


try looking in www.pricewatch.com you should be able to find a decent new or used drive there at rock bottom prices..... be careful there are some slimey distributors out there...

[Jaytee]

Yep.

(GRRRR - 4 hours to d/load 3 ISOs - that would take me and my dial-up 4 days solid!)


Smurfy,
I just got a wifi connection I will download and burn them to cd for you if want me to. Pm or email me (I think you have my user@clear****) if you like. :-S

[Dodge]

Smurfy,
I just got a wifi connection

Just curious, what is a wifi connection. (I understand its highspeed, but what kind)

[Jaytee]

Just curious, what is a wifi connection. (I understand its highspeed, but what kind)
Hi Dodge,
It is a wireless connection. I think it means wireless fidelity .You can connect where ever there is A "hotspot" Airports, starbucks, Motels etc or get a dish for home use. I think it is running on 11.2 mhz band.
If you are within a thousand feet of the hotspot you can connect by using a usb router or wireless pcmia card. After using a modem for all these years it seems really fast ,downloads at a bit more than a meg a minute, I dont know a heck of a lot more but so far I am very impressed.. ;)

[jmtjet]

I'm using a Trois switch to boot to the harddrive of my choice. My switch can handle 3 harddrives-I have two installed. Disk 1 has Windows 2000 Pro. on it. Disk 2 has SuSE Linux 9.0 on it. The switch coat me about $50.00 USD. I can't hot switch, but that's OK. When I want to go from one to the other I must shut down and select the other drive and re-boot. This is better than having a dual boot-in my opinion.

[Dodge]

Jaytee, thanks for telling me what a wifi is. I'd never heard of it. Sounds cool though.

jmtjet, I have actually thought about getting one of those switches. I seen them awhile back for about $20 USD and thought it may actually work better and have less trouble than having a dual boot.

I am thinking about doing this on my system and running 98/XP on my faster 60gig drive and Mandrake on the slower 13gig drive.

[jmtjet]

The reason I went to the Trios switch is because I had trouble trying to dual boot RedHat 7.2 and Windows 2000 Pro. with NTFS. Linux boot loader-LiLo-couldn't see the NTFS. After several days of trying to fix it-I wiped the drive and re-installed Win 2K-I had my backups up-to-date so all I lost was time. The switch works great. The only problem I've incountered is the OS clocks loose time when not selected. That no big deal to me-I just reset them when I log on.

[Jaytee]

Jaytee, thanks for telling me what a wifi is. I'd never heard of it. Sounds cool though.

No Prob Dodge,
Looks like I bought some advanced technology back though as there are not too many spots I can use at the moment. things are happening though. *dragging out modem card to reply*

LINUX Q?
IS there a small dummies version that I can DL and play with code practices and general learning of all the "alien" terms and parameters. Maybe similar to the single action Dos of old? :)

[Trillian]

I'm no die-hard anymore... :(
just got a webcam, and it worked quite well, except for a difference in colors. Red was green, green blue-ish. That prob, combined with another hd, got me to install win98 with a gig or 20 on the first hd.

After a year only linux, I noticed it again: my computer sucks @ windoze. :-( :( :(

[LinuxRetard]

Well i finally did it. I installed RH9 on my computer and I even managed to do it without destorying any of my stuff!!! (after 3 hours at the partition screen :goulet: )

Anyhow I was wondering something about linux, they are already the biggest comptitor for Micro$oft and their softwhere is really only made for really computer savvvy people ya know, i read something about a new KERNELL or something that Linux was doing to rival the new longhorn or something, is this going to be a kiddy user friendly family version of linux? I think that if linux was to come out with such a thing they would really give micro**** a run for their money. because i think that really most people are scared to death of linux, ( I am ) there is no doubt in most peoples mind that linux is 1000 times better than microsoft but most people are just to scarred to take the leap. maybe something like the Mac OSX or something would make it easy for people to come to linux and make it a real competitor and put micro$of to sleep already. Anyhow really wish me luck that i can get ahold of this linux because i really want to use it regularly. I am having a problem so far, i sufferd threw the install and now that i got it on there im having the problems that i cant find my other harddrives, i think the big one 80gb is not on a fat partition because i just use it for storage, and i cant get to it, and i cant really install softwhere to watch my movies or anything i tryed to do it but it wouldnt work :( anyhow thanks for the great website im sure i will be back lots to ask a bunch of silly questions, wish me luck!

[Lubricant_Larry]

Hi,

I'm sorry to sound dense but i've been a mad fan of PC's for years and i've just started studying for an MCSA but apart from the VERY brief description on my books can anyone tell me what is Linux and how it works? is it just a less graphical version on Windows? (sorry if that last line was offensive to anyone)
Regards
Newby

[Jaytee]

Hi New Members.
I am really new to Linux too so not really qualified to answer your questions.
Linux is reported to be a full,strong, stand alone, operating system, it can be as graphic or not as the user requires,
Am finding all the reading a bit frustrating at the moment but I am slowly coming to grips with it. I think Linux is a system where you actually need to be able to call a friend and have them show how to do things, especally if you are migrating from the windows system.
Sorry not a lot that you need to know there but you at least got a reply. :wave:

[Lubricant_Larry]

No, that was what i wanted to know...Thanks

[the penguin]

oh ok, but linux is EXPENSIVE!!!! like 150 and a 13 year old kid can't afford that kinda cha ching

well, redhat 9 is 150

You can download Linux for free :)

[asdff]

You can download Linux for free :)

LOL. Thats pretty stupid to somehow not see that Linux is free for download all over the place, its Windows XP Prof that costs $150. I mean, the descrition of Linux is all over the place, OPEN SOURCE!!!

[nibby]

hee hee give me linux or give me death

[seraph00]

Great posts everyone, very informative. I recently got a copy of the 10.1 official build of Linux Mandrake. I have to admit that it, along with the KDE desktop, are quite impressive. However, I can't get to a point of totally tossing Windows as of yet sadly. My computer will run Linux easily enough, the problem is an all too common one, games. Even with the current build of Wine, Cedega and/or Crossover Office installed and setup correctly, there is still a large stack of DOS and Win9.x games that I have that will not run or install on Linux.

I think the DosBox project is great, that really helps on getting old DOS apps and games up and running again. The probelm I have is that a lot of the older games I really love to play also require Windwos 9.x to work right. So even XP isn't an option for me at the moment due to this. Sadly, DOSbox does nothing to emulate Windows, just DOS. I've also been unable to find any sort of real working emulator for actually emulating Windows 9.x on a Linux box, not just being an application layer like Wine.

If I could get a way to be able to install and actually run my entire game collection off a Linux build, i'd toss Windows in a heartbeat. I already use Open Office for my home office program needs. I also have a good set of freeware and open-source software that works nicely as replacement software that all have Linux builds. Unfortunately, unless I can manage to find some mega guru programming genius to help work out the bugs, I'm still stuck using Windows for the time being, and old Windows at that.

It would be nice, at least for those people who do own valid copies of Windows Operating systems, if there was any software that would allow you to copy the needed Windows files from your install CD to your hard drive, and enable Linux to actully load, read, and use the needed Windows .dll's for PC gaming. Either that, or someone writing a program that would help modernize older existing games, or possibly allow you to recompile them to Linux playable versions, would be totally awesome. I as of yet, have found nothing that does this so far unfortunately.

[DaveQB]

It would be nice, at least for those people who do own valid copies of Windows Operating systems, if there was any software that would allow you to copy the needed Windows files from your install CD to your hard drive, and enable Linux to actully load, read, and use the needed Windows .dll's for PC gaming.
I believe this your best bet and does indeed help the issue. I too would be interested in this, i just havent got around to researching this. If you find anything this please post up a nice big new thread ;)

[cinstan]

Help a newbie?

My SuSE live cd reports "unable to load printer database" and then hangs at the "saving printer settings" step.
Any suggestions would be MOST appreciated!
cinstan

[DaveQB]

Firstly, i'd suggestion starting your own thread so as to get more help rather the filling up a sticky.

Secondly, look in your logs for CUPS (/var/log/cups/) and see whats going . Plus checking kernel messages too (/var/log/mesages ) wouldn't hurt. I believe you can put cups into a more verbose mode too to get more indepth logs.

[wtreon]

:wave: linux distributions are not expensive. you can download them off the net as ISO images then burn them onto cds using your cdr or cdrw drive on your computer. you can also purchase them for only a few dollars. checkout ebay.com search linux or go to a place like linuxcd.org. Hope this helps...

steph

[55stoney]

I been fighting this for 4 days now just want to do a dual boot with Win98SE and RH9. I guess you guys know something I don't :eek:

Stoney

[DaveQB]

I been fighting this for 4 days now just want to do a dual boot with Win98SE and RH9. I guess you guys know something I don't :eek:

Stoney

Start a new thread and we will try to help you.

[smurfy]

He already has :)

[Harrie]

If I can do it, anybody can do it! Harrie, newbie Linux user!

[smurfy]

Smurfy does the woohooo dance.

[Jaytee]

Well done Harrie,
You make me feel really bad as i am on my second crippled version of ubuntu.
not sure what the hang I am doing wrong.

[Jaytee]

Hah Harrie,
You must be an inspiration for me. I got Ubuntu up on the fourth attempt.
Simple problem, no root partition just one keystroke away from success </> Had to go to expert mode (John the expert hmnn!!) to fix the problem as the auto partition keep repeating the fault
btw I d/loaded Knoppix (712meg) in under two hours. Not bad for a truck stop wireless hotspot heh.

[anita sharma]

i have one problem how to write the vb code for if lower version is installed ,setup will prompt to upgrade it to latest version.

[axxegrinder7]

LINUX is a FOC OS meaning free of charge. if your new to linux i suggest going to a few different places online and getting other distros.in linux terminology that means different versions of linux,im running fedora core and it comes with any linux for dummies book, you can get them at any book store at your local mall or call hte 800 number on the back of any dummies book and ask for it ,another way is to just download one of the distros on the link below that ive added in this post ,and believe it or not there are pocket operating systems for linux as well ive added a link for those as well ,have fun and welcome to the world of the mad penguin.........axxe

http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
http://www.linux.org/dist/
http://www.linuxiso.org/

[Bandito]

Hey R4NG3R Linux is not expensive--it's free, that's why so many use it. go to www.linuxiso.org for Linux help and downloads. I have downloaded several linux applications there.

[30111987]

Just introducing myself to this topic!

I just installed SuSe 10 today :D

[Zefon]

Howdy,
I am about to convert completely to Linux from XP (clean install) I am tired of cleaning up a mess every 2 months or so with Windon't XP. I may need your help in the next week or so. So I'll say Thanks in advance....

[jmtjet]

Which distro are you going with?

and good luck. :)

[Zefon]

Linux XP from Freespire. That is if it ever gets here.
Thanks

[vivekaanand]

RedHat 9, if installed after a Windows OS will see and setup the OS in GRUB properly. ANY Windows OS, including 2K and XP. You won't have to adjust anything. No bootdisks to modify the MBR or anything. Just install Windows first on a partition and then install Linux on another partition and use GRUB, which is the default, as the boot loader. On the first reboot after installing Linux you'll see the option to boot to Windows.
I have yet to find a redhat that recognizes my cdrom at install and I haven't bothered to figure out how to work around it as ubuntu works fine. But if someone could post the info I would love to do a dual boot with redhat9. It only takes an hour or so to download and burn. At the moment I am using ubuntu. I trashed xp and vista altogether. Its great!

[Rodnolinux]

Here is a primer for ya to read up on....

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/os.html

One thing about linux, you'll be doing a bit more reading about things. Not that other linuxers don't want to help, but a lot of the stuff is already written down somewhere. The tldp.org website is full of HOWTO's and Mini-Manuals!

Linux left me cold. Yes, you can do more reading than you need to do for Windows to figure out how to do what Windows does for you without research -- the "Nutshell" on Linux had over 800 pages of commands and parameters, but little explanation to a newbie about what any of that stuff did. But lots of times I found Linux advice like parenting advice, namely obsolete, vague, or just wrong if not boneheaded. Research may not help at all, and sometimes, I found, no one will help.

It is OK to rely on the community and on forums and books from the library if you want to do Linux, but free advice is usually worth what you pay for it no matter what you are doing. You wouldn't go to court without a lawyer, or go to surgery without a doctor, and armed just with what you learned on line from other amateurs, and installing Linux with just a book or a HOWTO if you plan to use it in business is going to be a mistake if you are not really a pro.

Also, the need to read and study this stuff really violates one of the premises of Linux and open software, which is avoidance of the Microsoft tax. If the learning curve is going to be steep -- especially if you are an employer, but also if you are self-employed -- the delay in getting going is just as much of a cost coming out of your pocket as the Microsoft tax, just that it goes to staff or becomes income not earned.

And the rest of it is that might not be much of an issue if the apps were good, but they are mostly pretty lame, surely no better than you could get free or even pay $30 or $40 for, which will run perfectly with no compiling, recompiling, or guess work about whether it will work at all on your distro, and be able to use right out of the box without the complexity of command line installation that takes up plenty of your time too. And since many specialty programs won't work at all under Linux, people who need that stuff end up with redundant systems, and that too costs.

Linux is good as a hobby because it is addicting like crossword puzzles and Soduku. But if time is money, it is probably cheaper in the long run to go with what you know (and what everyone knows). When Linux GUI's like Windows and you don't have to take your hands off the mouse to make it work right, then that will be the time to switch.

[smurfy]

Linux left me cold. Yes, you can do more reading than you need to do for Windows to figure out how to do what Windows does for you without research -- the "Nutshell" on Linux had over 800 pages of commands and parameters, but little explanation to a newbie about what any of that stuff did. But lots of times I found Linux advice like parenting advice, namely obsolete, vague, or just wrong if not boneheaded. Research may not help at all, and sometimes, I found, no one will help.

It is OK to rely on the community and on forums and books from the library if you want to do Linux, but free advice is usually worth what you pay for it no matter what you are doing. You wouldn't go to court without a lawyer, or go to surgery without a doctor, and armed just with what you learned on line from other amateurs, and installing Linux with just a book or a HOWTO if you plan to use it in business is going to be a mistake if you are not really a pro.

Also, the need to read and study this stuff really violates one of the premises of Linux and open software, which is avoidance of the Microsoft tax. If the learning curve is going to be steep -- especially if you are an employer, but also if you are self-employed -- the delay in getting going is just as much of a cost coming out of your pocket as the Microsoft tax, just that it goes to staff or becomes income not earned.

And the rest of it is that might not be much of an issue if the apps were good, but they are mostly pretty lame, surely no better than you could get free or even pay $30 or $40 for, which will run perfectly with no compiling, recompiling, or guess work about whether it will work at all on your distro, and be able to use right out of the box without the complexity of command line installation that takes up plenty of your time too. And since many specialty programs won't work at all under Linux, people who need that stuff end up with redundant systems, and that too costs.

Linux is good as a hobby because it is addicting like crossword puzzles and Soduku. But if time is money, it is probably cheaper in the long run to go with what you know (and what everyone knows). When Linux GUI's like Windows and you don't have to take your hands off the mouse to make it work right, then that will be the time to switch.

Rodnolinux, your inability to cope with the relatively low intellectual demands of Linux have already been well documented here (http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160398)

I don't speak for everyone, but I myself will not "bet" that I can fix your problem. I do not think anything I say will help you, actually. You have proven many times already that you do not fully understand basic instruction, you do not read or comprehend the advice or help people give you, and you are quick to start an argument in order to shift blame.

Please continue using Windows. There is no reason for you to use linux, since it does not do what you need. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, and I'm sorry you continue to be so closed-minded.

I'm closing this topic, as this discussion has become meaningless, and we all have better things to do (at least some of us do) then argue with each other.

If you need legitiment help, feel free to start a new topic. If you create a new topic in order to continue your argument, you will be banned. If you create a new topic asking for help, and in doing so continue your argument, you will be banned. If you continue to harass members of this forum, you will be banned.

Have a good day, sir.

Future attempts by you to continue flogging this dead horse will be deleted.

[Rodnolinux]

Can you explain, if you are so smart, why I get flamed and then it's my fault?
Censorship is for cowards.

[smurfy]

Heard of Flamebaiting?
Joining a forum solely to claim Linux is useless just be cause YOU were unable to get it to work for you?

Future attempts by you to continue flogging this dead horse will be deleted.

[Rodnolinux]

S:

The site is called "cyber tech HELP."

People are not only looking for help with a particular OS, but are trying to decide what OS to use.

I am helping those people by being real.

You are not helping by only allowing a one-sided view: yours.

Big mistake to judge based on one side of a story.

Bigger mistake to listen to someone so prejudiced that they can't take an opposing voice.

Let the people decide whether Linux is better or worse by hearing he pros and cons from all comers. Don't censor people who disagree, or don't have time to post 7000 times (suggesting you don't do anything but Linux).

That's the way the do things in Communist countries, where management of the gov't is afraid of opposing views.

[smurfy]

ME:
Join Date: September 18th, 2000
Total Posts: 6,811 (2.69 posts per day)
CTH Mod errata: Applications - Gaming - Linux - Windows NT/2000/2003 - Windows95 forums.
My total posts in Linux forum = 277 (0.11 posts per day).
YOU:
Join Date: July 20th, 2007
PostsTotal Posts: 11 (0.30 posts per day - all in Linux forum)

I'd say you have been busier in here than I have. :)

I've been a Windows user longer than I have been a Linux user.

I will say this again for the last time.
Your only point has been that since YOU couldn't get it to work, it must be user-unfriendly and no-one but geeks should use it.

I have simply told you to stop flogging the same redundant argument.
We've heard your point.
We disagree with it.
We have still LEFT IT THERE for others to read and form their own opinions on it's merits.
No existing post of yours has been censored. But yes, we are gagging you from continuing to re-post your view in this forum.

fyi. I have between 6 and 8 PCs running at any one time in my home. 75% of them run Windows by default. 75% of them have a dual-boot option to run a flavour of Linux. My three children (6, 8 and 14yrs) are all comfortable using alternative operating systems. My 14yr old uses Ubuntu exclusively now since I migrated him off Windows 2000. He is not a geek by any means.

Anyone used to using a Mac is quite quickly at home in a Gnome desktop.

It seems to me that only those whose minds have been closed by the exclusive use of a Microsoft PC seem to have your problem.

Yes there are many Linux forums out there that act like an "old boys network" and will treat basic questions as beneath them etc etc but there are also those like this one that try to encourage users to try it out and wherever possible we try to limit the amount of "command-line only" solutions.
Sometimes the Linux command line is the only tool for the job, just like in Windows you may still need to use a cmd prompt (how many pages are there in the DOS command library?), or the registry editor or yikes, even the Recovery "Console".
Should Linux be easier to install? Perhaps.
Is it any harder than Windows? Doubtful - do a search of the Windows forums for "trouble re-installing windows" questions.

[Jaytee]

I have had a few problems with adjusting to the Linux system from Windows but I think I am getting there plus each new release gets easier and less dependant on the How tos and tutorials. My 11 yo granddaughter is quite at home on either Windows or Ubuntu and knows enough to start a program from the terminal. Maybe you should wait for another couple of releases or ask for assistance with your problem..

[mystry]

sorry...I misread the post....

[renegade600]

I thought linux was a freebee...???...that would be the only reason to use the OS...or at least for this boyo.

linux is free to download but you can purchase some distros that include manuals and cds. Those are available for those who need more info and do not have the internet access for large downloads.

However if you can be more speciic maybe you will get a more specific answer.

[Megatron]

hi twistedcranium,
I too am hoping to loose windows - I still want to hang onto it until I am satisifoed with all linux software.

I have one big problem - i use a d-link dwl-g122 usb adapter and can access the internet in ubuntu when I boot up.
Then without warning my internet cuts and it asks me for my wep key.
I put this in, it tries to access the net again but wont.

I need a very simple step by step way to solve this.

Thank you.
A linux beginner.

[abstractposer]

i have just started to use linux for real. i used it here and there, but now im taking a linux class at school and i think i really like it. i am currently running vista on my home pc, but am seriously considering dual booting with fedora 9. anybody think this is a bad idea?

[Megatron]

i have just started to use linux for real. i used it here and there, but now im taking a linux class at school and i think i really like it. i am currently running vista on my home pc, but am seriously considering dual booting with fedora 9. anybody think this is a bad idea?

You could try running fedora in Virtual Box.
Ubuntu rules.

;)